Samsung SSD 840 Series (250GB) Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
With its mainstream price and top-notch performance on tests relevant to boot and program-load times, Samsung's 840 Series is an excellent option for those looking to step up from a hard drive or an older SSD. Read More…

What We Liked…

Very fast sequential reads and writes

Slim 7mm body

Reasonably priced

What We Didn’t…

Sequential read speeds lag behind other several other drives in our testing

No drive-bay adapter in the box at this price

Samsung SSD 840 Series (250GB) Review

Introduction

Like Intel, Samsung has the benefit of massive name recognition in the consumer technology market—but when it comes to solid-state storage, the company has a distinction all its own. Unlike Intel, which relies on a partnership with Micron for its memory and, of late, has been sourcing the controllers for its consumer drives from SandForce (the silicon spring from which so many SSDs' controllers emerge), Samsung makes all of its SSD components itself.

That makes perfect sense, of course—the South Korean company is the second-largest semiconductor maker in the world (behind Intel), so it certainly knows a thing or two about NAND flash memory. After all, Samsung makes memory chips for its own phones and tablets, and the company supplied Apple with the chips for earlier-generation iPhones. Its foundries also make low-power chips for Samsung's own smartphones, which gives the company expertise in the controller market.

Not having to rely on outside sources likely helps Samsung keep the costs of its SSD components down. And indeed, the 250GB 840 Series SSD that we're looking at here, which is part of the company's mainstream-consumer-focused line of SSDs, is reasonably priced on a per-gigabyte basis. It came in at about $170, when we wrote this in mid-March 2013.

That mainstream-consumer focus is worth some further clarification. The model that we're looking at here belongs to Samsung's mainstream-SSD line, as opposed to its higher-end, "high-performance" SSD 840 Pro series drives intended for power users. Calling an SSD "high-performance" may seem redundant, like a "fast Porsche," but it's worth understanding how we (as well as most SSD makers) classify different families of SSDs.

Most SSD makers, Samsung included, offer several discrete SSD product lines with differing performance ratings. It’s important to know, when comparing them, which grade of drive you’re looking at within a maker’s lines. Some SSDs (we dub them "mainstream drives") are built and priced for mainstream consumers, but most manufacturers also have premium models at any given capacity, rated for better performance. We dub the latter "high-performance drives," even though the name is a bit misleading—after all, almost any SSD is a super-speedy performer compared to a conventional hard drive. In a sense, they are all high performers. It's all relative. The thing with this drive—and why it's an Editors' Choice winner—is that it's priced as a mainstream drive but performs like one of its supposed betters.

One thing to note, depending on whether you're installing this drive to a desktop or a laptop: While the $170 street price we saw for this drive doesn't get you a 3.5-inch bay adapter in the box for desktop users, those looking for one can pay $10 more for Samsung's version of this drive equipped with installation accessories. That version nets you the adapter and other gear that makes drive cloning and upgrading much easier. We appreciate the option to get either, since not everyone needs the parts. (Even some desktop-PC chassis these days have dedicated SSD bays that eliminate the need for the adapter.) Know which one you're paying for if you opt for this drive.

Whichever configuration you opt for, though, this drive is a fine, firm pick for upgrading almost any PC out there, barring only those that already have a premium-grade SSD installed.